


A Night to Remember

by sg1mouse



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen, Hazing, Humor, Mild Language, Team, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 16:33:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11604534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sg1mouse/pseuds/sg1mouse
Summary: Cassandra Fraiser has a dilemma.  Just one week before the Senior Prom, she breaks up with her boyfriend.  Undaunted, she decides to ask the one person she’s had a crush on forever.  But will Daniel survive the week and actually escort the young lady to her dance?





	1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

_April 8 th_

_-Dear Diary,_

_I broke-up with Tyler.  He is just sooooo immature!  I know that I’m only 17, but, God!  At least I can behave in a movie theater.  It was so embarrassing to get thrown out.  Now I have to try to figure out who I’m going to go to the prom with.  My life SUCKS!_

_-Cassie-_

_April 10 th_

_-Dear Diary,_

_I had an idea last night about who I’d like to go to prom with.  The only thing is, I’m not sure if I could… or even should, ask him.  He’s older.  Well, okay.  He’s an adult.  And I bet my mom wouldn’t let me ask him.  But he is so damn cute!  And gentle!  And Smart!  And Cute!  Oh boy, I think I’ve got a crush, and here I thought I was mature._

_-Cassie-_

_April 11 th_

_-Dear Diary,_

_I’ve made up my mind!  I’m calling up this guy and asking him if he would take me to my prom.  I’m not going to ask mom first, though.  I know that he will.  I just have to get the nerve up.  I hope mom will let me if he says yes._

_-Cassie-_


	2. The Request

**The Request**

It was 9:30 pm when Daniel walked into his house.  Tired and grumpy, he dropped his keys into the dish beside the door, receiving a rewarding clink.  The last several missions were long, hard, and utterly unproductive.  Then, back at the base, the Translation Department had imploded with overly dramatic personal matters between a couple of the scientists.

Flopping down on his couch, he tossed his glasses onto the coffee table.  Bone weary was an understatement.  What he wouldn’t give for a vacation.  Maybe he _would_ ask General Hammond for a leave of absence.  Find a dig in Egypt he could anonymously attach too as a shovel bum.  Warm weather, familiar culture, and as Jack would put it, digging in the dirt.  A smile crossed the archeologist’s face.  Yeah, an old fashion dig would do him a world of good.

With an exhausted sigh, Daniel rubbed at his eyes.  No coffee tonight, he decided!  It was right to bed, _if_ he got as for as his bed.  It was taking a great effort for him to just sit up.  About to give it up as a lost cause, his phone rang, nearly giving him a heart attack.  A quick glance at the caller I.D. to see if answering it was worth his time, Daniel scowled.

_Janet?_  He thought.  She was still at the SGC.  And he wasn’t hurt… for a change.  Why would she be calling this late?

Leaning over and grabbing the phone he answered, “Hello?”

There was a pause before he heard the young, female voice.

“Daniel?”  Cassie tentatively questioned.

Surprised that it was Janet’s adopted daughter, he grew concerned.  “Cassie?  What’s wrong?”

“Um…  Nothing, really,” she answered him.

Daniel wasn’t convinced.  “Is Janet okay?  Do you need something?”

The line went quiet for a moment.

“Cassie.”

“I’m sorry, Daniel.  I’m just trying to think of how to say this.”

Apprehension reved up, he stood and began to pace.  “Cassie, what is wrong?”

“Um… can I ask you for a REALLY big favor, Daniel?” her voice was quiet and just shy of desperate.

Wrinkling his forehead, Daniel stopped his pacing, “Ah… sure?”

After another silent moment, he heard Cassie sigh.

“Out with it, Cass,” he told her in an exasperated tone.

“Okay, okay,” she relented, “Daniel… _wouldyougowithmetomyseniorprom_?”

Daniel stared at his empty fireplace, trying to understand what she just said.  And people thought _he_ talked fast.

“Come again?” he asked the young woman.

Trying to calm down, Cassie took a deep breath and started again, “Would you go with me to my senior prom… please?”

Totally flabbergasted, Daniel sank back onto his couch.  He wasn’t sure what to expect, but it sure as hell wasn’t that!

Trying to gather his thoughts he stuttered incoherently, “I, I… um… ah…” swallowing the lump growing in his throat, cleared his voice and tried again.  “Um… Cassie, not that I’m not… ah, flattered, but, shouldn’t you be going with… someone your own age?  What happened to what’s his name… Taylor, Tyler…”

“It’s Tyler and I broke up with him.  He’s a total loser!!  And there isn’t anyone I like enough to go with.  All the boys are so immature.  And this is an important dance.  Oh, please, Daniel.  Say yes.  I don’t want to go stag and I know that my mom will trust you…”

Daniel’s eyes went wide.  An image of a pissed off Janet entered his mind.  And she was coming for him with a VERY large needle aimed at his posterior.  “Ah… what has Janet… your mom, have to say about this?” he asked hesitantly.

Silence.  He thought for a moment that Cassie hung up.

“I haven’t said anything to her, yet,” she quietly answered.  “I wanted to ask you first.”

_Oh boy,_ Daniel thought, _this is just too damn weird!_

Daniel was trying to think of a gentle way to say no.  He really didn’t want to hurt her feelings.  He had always loved Cassie like a niece.  She was strong, smart, and very independent.  She had been through a lot in her young life, much as he had.  His musings were interrupted when Cassie spoke again.

 “Daniel?  Are you still there?”

“Ah… yeah.  Look, um, Cassie, I’m not sure it would be a good idea,” he told her.

“Oh please, Daniel!  I’m desperate.  I’m not asking for the whole shebang or anything.  Just the prom itself,” she sounded near tears, “Please, please, please!”

Daniel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.  He just wanted to go to sleep!  However, the idea of going was kind of intriguing.  He never went to any of his school dances.  He was too shy, too small and too much younger than his classmates.  Shaking his head, he could feel his common sense beamed away as if Thor was in on the whole plot with Cassie.

“Alright, Cassie.  I’ll tell you what.  _If_ your mom says, it’s okay, and _if_ she tells me that herself, I will take you to your prom,” he must have _easy target_ written a crossed his forehead.

After Cassie finished screaming her thanks and composed herself, she said, “Oh, Daniel!  You are the _most_ wonderful, fantastic, best guy every in the _whole_ universe!”

Daniel hoped that his hearing would return in a few days time.  He was very happy that this conversation was over the phone, he would hate to have her see how much he was blushing.

“Okay, okay, enough already!  If your mom is cool with all this, then we’ll do it up good.  Limo, dinner, the works.”

Cassandra Fraiser couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  Not only was he going to go with her, but, he was also going to treat her to something special.

“Daniel… you are the best!” she couldn’t hide the tears of happiness in her voice.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said dismissively.  “You have to work this out with your mom, first.  _I_ won’t say anything to her.”

Cassie said, “Sure!  I’ll talk to her in the morning.  Thank you, Daniel.  This really means a lot to me!”

He smiled, figuring that for a young girl, the senior prom was as important as a wedding would be.  “You’re welcome Cass.  If Janet says its okay, you’ll need to give me all the information.  You can email it to me.  You have my email address?”

“No, sorry.”

“It’s; _ancientdirt1@usaf_sgc_ … you know the rest.”

“Got it.  Thanks, Daniel.  You _really_ are the greatest.  Have a good night.”

“You too, Cass.”

Hanging up the phone on what would go down in his book as the strangest conversation he has ever had, Daniel let out a soft laugh.  This was defiantly going to be interesting.  Not to mention, possibly dangerous for him after Cassie talks with Janet.  He decided right then, he was going to steer clear of the infirmary level tomorrow.


	3. 50/50 Hindsight

**50/50 Hindsight**

The next day, Daniel cautiously poked his head out of the elevator to see if the coast was clear.  When he saw the hallway empty, he quickly headed to his office.  Getting to the SGC _very_ early was his way of avoiding a particular doctor.  Letting out a sigh of relief when he reached his lair, Daniel walked in and turned on the lights.

“ ** _Dr. Jackson!_** ”

The archeologist jumped out of his skin at the harsh female voice that spoke from a dark corner of his office.  Clutching at his chest and trying to bring his breathing under control, Daniel leaned back against the wall.

“ _Heilige scheiße_ , Janet…” he gasped, “you damn near gave me a heart attack.”

Dr. Janet Fraiser cast an evil eye at the unfortunate linguist.  “It’s a good thing I’m your doctor then, huh?  I need to have a word with you, Dr. Jackson.”

Daniel inched around the petite, yet very scary woman, towards his desk, trying to get something in between himself and Janet as protection.  Clearing his throat, he questioned innocently, “Um… what can I do for you…  ah, Janet?”

Leaning onto his cluttered work surface, Dr. Fraiser fixed Daniel with an icy stare.  He couldn’t stop the shudder that coursed through him.  With an inward smile, Janet revealed in the power she could wield over most of the men at the SGC.  However, in Daniel’s case, it really wasn’t very hard to intimidate the soft-spoken archeologist.  Seeing how much anxiety he was in, she decided to ease up a little.

“I understand that my daughter gave you a call last night.”

Visibly swallowing, he merely nodded.

“I also understand that she has asked you, _AND_ … that you have agreed, to take her to the senior prom.  Am I correct?”

“Only if you agree,” Daniel mumbled.

Janet’s eyebrow rose, “Mm, hmm.  I see.”  She paused and studied the man before her, “Well…”

“Look, Janet,” Daniel interrupted, “I told her that I would take her _only_ if you said it was okay.  I was doing this as a favor to Cassie, ’cause I know that the prom is really important… to, um… girls.”

“I know it is, Daniel.  I’m a girl, remember?” Janet smirked at him.  Giving Daniel a lengthy look, she smiled.  “I trust that I don’t have to go over the _rules of engagement_ with you.”

Staring at her in disbelief, Daniel grasped for something to say, “Ah… you, um… you’re sure about this?”

Softening her voice, she replied, “I cannot think of a better man for the job.  I know that you will show her a good time and that she will be well cared for.”

Daniel blushed and ducked his head, “Thanks, Janet.  I’ll try to give Cass a night to remember.”  As soon as the words left his mouth, his head snapped up with a panicked look in his eyes, “I, I… I didn’t mean that…”

Janet laughed at the mortified archeologist.  Reaching out and patting his hand she reassured him, “I know, Daniel.  I know.”

With a twinkle in her eye, Dr. Fraiser turned to leave.  Pausing at the door, she looked back at him.  “Besides… not only do I know where you live— I also know _ALL_ the places you don’t like getting shots.”  With that, she was gone.

Releasing the breath he had no idea he was holding, Daniel sank onto his chair.  Shoving his glasses up to his forehead, he rubbed his eyes.

“Ohhhh… what have I gotten myself into this time?” he groaned.

“Well, it sounds to me like you have finally got a date.”

Dropping his head onto the desk with a thud, Daniel tried his hardest to will himself to disappear into thin air.  When he noticed that it wasn’t going to happen, he muttered, “Jack?  What do you want?”

The colonel meandered around the cluttered office, picking things up and setting them down restlessly, he said, “Oh… nothin’.  Just thought I’d come down and say good morning.”

“Right.  Sure,”  Daniel replied skeptically, raising his head and replacing his glasses, he glared at Jack.

With a smirky smile, O’Neill walked over to the young man and clapped him on the back.  “So… Got a big night to plan for, huh?”

With a monumental effort, Daniel kept his voice even, “I have a lot of work to do right now, Jack.  So if you will excuse me, please…”

Jack cocked an eyebrow and snorted at him, “Yeah, sure, you betcha!”  On his way out he shot back over his shoulder, “By the way, Cassie loves lilacs.”

Jack narrowly avoided the hockey puck that flew at him.  Daniel could hear his C.O. chuckling all the way down the hall.  Getting up to retrieve his puck, he muttered to himself, “This is going to be a long day in hell.”

***

True enough, in record time it seemed as if the entire base knew that Daniel was taking Cassandra to her prom.  The sly looks from airmen and ones of amusement from the women finally forced him to sequester himself in his office with the door locked.  His head was pounding, but he didn’t want to go to the infirmary.  The day was almost over and when he got home, he’d down a bottle of Tylenol.  Maybe his agreeing to do this for Cassie wasn’t such a good idea.  He really hadn’t expected all the grief that was coming his way.  It was just a kind thing to do for a friend, he figured.

At 18 hundred hours a knock at his door startled him out of his work.  Stretching and rubbing his eyes he wandered over to open it.  He poked his head out and the overwhelming relief must have been apparent, as Sam’s grin widened.

“Oh, Sam,” Daniel breathed, “Come on in.”

As soon as the astrophysicist cleared the threshold, Daniel had the door closed and locked again.  When he turned back to Sam, he smiled sheepishly at her.  “Tired of all the looks I’ve been getting today.”

She only nodded, “Yeah, I’ve heard a lot about it.”

“I’m beginning to think the entire world knows about it.”

Taking a seat on the couch, she patted the space next to her for Daniel to sit down.  He went over and wearily flopped down next to her.  Putting his head on her shoulder, he closed his eyes.  Sam smiled and petted his hair.

“Poor Daniel,” she smirked, “dug himself into a hole and can’t get out.”

Groaning, Daniel sat up, “ _Et tu, Brute?_ ”

Shaking her head, she smiled, “No.  I think what you’re doing for Cass is really sweet.  But you have to admit, if you look at it from our point of view, it’s just screaming to be made fun of.”

Daniel pouted, “Yeah, I suppose so.”

Daniel’s phone rang.  Sam looked at him when he didn’t get up to get.  Two… three… four…

“Ah, Daniel?” she cocked an eyebrow at him, “You going to get that?”

With his eyes closed and his jaw clenched, he shook his head no.

“Oh for Pete’s sake…” Sam breathed and got up to answer his phone.  “Dr. Jacks—”

She stopped abruptly when she heard the music coming through the phone receiver.  Listening for a moment, she couldn’t help the grin that snuck onto her face.  Looking over to Daniel her smirk quickly vanished.  He was sitting with his head in his hands and his elbows propped on his knees.  Sam hung up the phone and walked back over to him, sitting down.

 “It was a wrong number,” she lied, rubbing his back.

“Yeah… right,” Daniel mumbled, “I could hear the music, Sam.  It was the same song that has been played the last six times my phone’s rung.”

“Six times?!”

“Yep.  And I never liked that song in the first place.”

Sam giggled, “It’s a classic Police song.  Kind’a catchy,” she started to sing, “ _Don’t stand, don’t stand so, don’t stand so close to me…_ ”  If looks could kill, Sam Carter would have been listed as DOA.

“Sorry,” she giggled again. “Come on, Daniel.  It’ll blow over by tomorrow.”

He looked at her doubtfully and moaned, “I think I’m going to stay here tonight.  I’m not leaving this room.”

“Poor, poor, Daniel,” she said as she rested her head on his shoulder.  “Tell you what.  I’ll run interference and take you home with me.  That way, no one will bother you because they won’t know you’re at my house.”

“What about my car?”

“You’ve left it here before.  And you can stay the night.  I’ll help you out with dinner reservations and all that,” she patted his head gently, “Sound good?”

With a deep sigh, Daniel relented, “Sure.”

Sam successfully extracted Daniel from the mountain with minimal fuss.  On the way to her house, they stopped and got some take-out Thai.  Daniel was happy that SG-1 was so close to each other.  He knew that he had a set of clean clothes as well as some sweats at Carter’s house.  They casually talked as they ate dinner, with Daniel teaching, or rather trying to teach Sam conversational Thai.  She really wasn’t very good with foreign languages.

Once dinner was over, she grabbed the telephone book to look up restaurants, florist, tux rentals and limos.

“Tux rental?!” Daniel exclaimed as he watched her peruse the pages.

Sam rolled her eyes at him.  “What?  Are you going to take Cassie to the prom wearing your BDU’s?”

He frowned at her.

Laughing at his pouty face, she teased, “Oh, yeah!  Cassie asked a _real_ mature guy to prom.”

Just to press the point, Daniel stuck his tongue out at her.

Looking at him innocently, she flirted, “Don’t show it, if you’re not going to use it.”

Shocked, Daniel ducked his head in a blush of red.  Instead of a retort, he quietly drank his beer, leafing through the yellow pages.

“Soooo…” he decided to rein the discussion back to the prom, “… have you seen Cassie’s dress?”

Sam nodded, “Yeah!  It’s beautiful.  A very light shade of lavender.”

He nodded, remembering Jack’s earlier comment about lilacs.

“Ooo… This place sounds nice,” Sam said pointing to an ad for a French restaurant.

“Don’t you mean, _Ooo, La, La_?” Daniel grinned.

She smacked him on the back of his head, “Funny.  What do you think?”

Reading the ad and the partial menu, Daniel raised his eyebrows, “I think it’s expensive.”

“Don’t be a cheapskate, Daniel,” Sam whined uncharacteristically, “you told her you would give her the works.”

Now it was her turn to blush when she realized what she was insinuating.  Daniel looked at her for a moment, then burst into laughter.  The rest of the night was spent trading barbs and writing down phone numbers of places for Daniel to call in the morning.  He had no idea how much work this whole thing was going to take.  Around one in the morning, he stretched and yawned, pushing Sam over with his foot.

“Jeesh, I feel like I’m planning a wedding,” he moaned.

Yawning also, Sam crawled up beside him on the couch and snuggled in close.  He wrapped his arms around her and then pulled a blanket from the back of the sofa over both of them.  In no time at all they were fast asleep.


	4. Preparations

**Preparations**

Cassandra Fraiser was getting her books from her locker for the first class of the day.  Her best friend Rose was chatting away about the prom dress that her mom just bought for her.  As Cassie turned to go, she was blocked by three boys.

“I’ve been looking for you, Cassie,” Tyler stated.

“Well, I haven’t been exactly hiding Ty,” she shot back coolly.

Taking her arm and pulling her away from the others, he dropped his voice to a soft whisper, “I’m really, really sorry about the thing at the movie theater, Cass.  Please… go with me to the prom?”

Cassie glanced over his shoulder at his friends.  They were huddled together with smirks plainly etched on their faces, watching the exchange between her and Tyler.  Considering for a moment, she turned back to the boy in front of her.

“Sorry, Ty.  I have a date for the prom.  You’ll just have to find someone else.  Or go with your buddies over there,” she tilted her head towards his friends, “but we are through.”

She turned to leave when Tyler grabbed her arm.  With a flash of anger in his eyes he growled, “Who is he?”

Yanking her arm free, Cassie shoved him away from her, “None of your business.”

“Come on, Cass,” he tried to block her way again.  “I said I was sorry.  Doesn’t that count for something?”

Cassie regarded him, “It would… if I thought you really were.  But judging by the infantile grins on your friends faces, I’m guessing you have just lost a bet.”  Side stepping the boy she added, “Go and play your little games with an underclassman.  We’re finished.”

Taking Rose’s arm, Cassandra strode away confidently.  Once the two girls turned a corner, Rose stopped her friend.

“Who _are_ you going with, Cass?” she asked.

With a warm smile and a dreamy look, Cassie whispered, “It’s a surprise.”

***

Neither Sam nor Daniel woke up in time for work.  In fact, when they did wake up, it was too embarrassed looks at each other and someone pounding on her door.

“Carter!” O’Neill yelled as he ravaged the door with his fist again.

Groaning, Sam untangled herself from Daniel’s arms.  She stumbled to the door and opened it.  The look that Jack gave her was priceless.  Taking in her current state with a quick glance, he cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Carter?  Did we miss the alarm this morning?”

Running her hands through her hair and yawning, she mumbled something incoherent.  Then Jack saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Daniel stiffly rise from the couch in a similar state as his 2IC.

Pushing his way into her house, O’Neill walked up to the stretching archeologist.  “Daniel,” he said in the tone of voice that always put the younger man on edge, “what’cha doin’?”

Daniel regarded his C.O. for a moment.  Glancing over Jack’s shoulder he caught Sam’s eye.  She shrugged with a wicked grin on her face.

“Jack,” he answered in an equally edge inducing tone.  “Sam was helping me with plans for Cassie’s prom.”

“Ah!” the colonel poked Daniel in the ribs, “Giving you pointers, was she?  Teaching you to dance?  Maybe… reminding you how very, _VERY_ young Cassandra is.  Impressionable teenager and all that?”

“You’re an ass!  What are _you_ doing here anyway?  A simple call would’ve sufficed,” Daniel growled.

“Well now, as this is _my_ 2IC’s house, and as _I_ have a standing invitation from said 2IC, the way I see it, I don’t have to answer to you!”

As Daniel opened his mouth to retort, Sam moved in between the two men.  “Look you two.  No alpha male circling in _MY_ house.  Daniel, why don’t you start the coffee.  Sir, have a seat.  I’m going to get a shower.”

She left with both them men staring at her _six_.  When they noticed what each other was doing, they quickly turned away.  Daniel headed for the kitchen to make coffee and Jack began to fold up the blanket his teammates had been using.

When Sam came back into the room, Daniel handed her a cup of coffee and then headed for the shower himself.  She walked to the living room and sat down opposite her C.O.

Looking sheepishly at him she murmured, “Sorry, sir.  We were up late and I forgot to set my alarm.”

“Mmmm… I see.” he answered.  “You guys get him all squared away with the plans?”

Sam smiled and handed the list they made over to him.  As he glanced at it, his eyebrow inched higher up his forehead.  He looked back at Carter.

“And… Daniel is going to do all this?” he asked incredulously.

Sam nodded, “It took some arm twisting, but yeah… he’s going to do all this.”

When Daniel came back into the room, clean and awake, he noticed his teammates going over the list.  Shoulders hunched and hands deep in his pockets, he went over to them.

“Look, ah… Jack…” he started.

“Aht…” O’Neill held up a finger to stop the linguist from continuing.  “You and Carter can have the day off.  But only so she can help you get all this done before,” he paused looking up at Daniel, “when is this thing anyway?”

“Um… this Saturday.”

Jack nodded, then continued, “Okay, it’s Wednesday and we have a mission tomorrow, so you two need to get this done today.  The briefing is at 08:30 and it’s just your run of the mill sort of thing, but we will be off planet overnight.  I’ll let General Hammond know what the both of you, are doing.  I’m sure he’ll be okay with you having a day off.  He was pretty amused when he found out about Cassie’s prom date.”

With that, he winked at Daniel, who went red and sank into a chair.

“Thanks, sir,” Carter said.  “I’ll make sure we get everything done today.  I want Cassie to have a great prom.”

“We all do, Carter,” Jack stated as he stood up to leave, “but in the end… it’ll be the crimson archeologist that’ll have to provide.”

If Daniel’s face got any redder, Sam was sure his hair would catch fire.

“You two kids have fun today,” Jack said with a mischievous grin.

***

The whole morning was spent on the phone making reservations.  Daniel relented and called the French restaurant that Sam had found.  Then he secured the limo. 

After lunch, Sam had made him an appointment to be fitted for a tux.  Grumbling all the way there, Daniel was in a thoroughly bad mood when they arrived.

“Give it a rest, Daniel.” She chided him. “Didn’t you wear a tux to your prom?”

“Sam… I was 15.” He moaned, “And a geek to boot.”

As they walked into the tuxedo store, Daniel turned to her and asked, “What did you wear to your prom?”

Blushing, Sam avoided the question by grabbing the nearest salesman.

“Excuse me,” she looked back at Daniel and grinned.  “Hi, we have an appointment.  It’s for him,” she pulled the reluctant archeologist over to her, “to be fitted for a tux.”

“Of course!” the man replied over excitedly, “What and when is the event?”

“Prom and Saturday,” Sam replied with a smile.

“Excellent!”  The salesman beamed, “Do we have a color scheme to work with?” he asked Daniel.

“Ah…”

Sam jumped in to help, “his date’s dress is a light shade of lavender.  And I think…” she continued sizing her embarrassed friend up, “he needs something that will bring out the color of his eyes.”

Daniel turned six shades of red.  Stuffing his hands in his pockets and rocking on the balls of his feet, he whined, “Saaaaaammmmm…”

The flirtations tailor clapped his hands and began to prowl around Daniel, making him very uncomfortable.

“Mmm… mmm… mmm,” the man murmured, “nice form.  And very well muscled…”

As he went around to Daniel’s back, the man sighed, bring his hands to his heart.  Looking over to Sam he smiled wickedly, “We **must** accentuate this ass!”

The peals of laughter from the major echoed throughout the store.  Daniel wanted to sink into the floor.  Taking both friends by the hand, the salesman led them to the fitting rooms.

“My name is Pyotr, and I will be doing all the alterations,” he said as he began to measure the uncomfortable linguist.  “Lucky me!” he added with a lilt in his voice.

Daniel was the poster child for the forlorn.  He scowled at Sam, who in turn, grinned at him.  She was having _way too much_ fun with this.

Just as he was about to say so, Pyotr dropped down to measure Daniel’s inseam.  Caught by surprise, he jumped about a mile.

With a leering smile, the tailor asked, “Which side do you dress?”

Daniel stared at him with a blank look. “Huh?”

Rolling his eyes, the man asked again, “On which side do you dress?  Left or right?”

Blinking at him, Daniel shrugged, “I… I, I don’t know what you mean.”

Pyotr looked over to Sam, who was writhing in fits of silent giggles.  He turned back to his subject and asked more succinctly.

“On which side do you place this…” he sighed lovingly as he gazed at Daniel’s groin, “most impressive bulge?”

Sam had to leave the room.  She was roaring with laughter to the point of tears.

Daniel was mortified.  If it wouldn’t break Cassie’s heart, he would call this whole prom thing off.

Closing his eyes, _trying_ to disappear, he mumbled to the tailor, “Ah… to the left… I guess.”

****

When Daniel was finished with his humiliating fitting, he paid the deposit and went to find his ‘ex’ friend.  As he walked out of the store, Sam was leaning on her car, holding a large cup of coffee out as a peace offering.

“Sorry, Daniel,” she smiled but didn’t really look all that remorseful.

Taking the coffee from her, he glared mildly, “not a word to ANYone about this,” he growled.

She mimed zipping her lips and locking them.  Then she handed the pretend key to Daniel with a grin.  He just stared at her with a scowl.

“Come on,” Sam latched onto his arm and dragged him down the street.  “One more thing to do, then you’re free… that is until Saturday night.”

He groaned as he fell into step with her. “Where to now?”

“Florist.”

“Oh.”

“It won’t be bad, Daniel.  We just have to pick out a corsage and a boutonnière.  Then we can grab a bite to eat.  My treat.”

With a weary grin, he nodded his acceptance.

****

After dinner, Daniel had Sam drop him off at his house.  With a mission the next morning, he wanted to get a good nights sleep, if there was such a thing in his life.  Sam told him she would pick him at 06:00 and then waved goodbye.

Walking into his living room, he fell onto his sofa.  Exhausted, both physically and mentally, he could’ve gone to sleep there and then.  However, his mind would not let him be, and he knew he had to prepare for tomorrow’s briefing.

As he pushed himself up and headed to his office, he had a flitting thought of how he could _maybe_ get out of this prom thing.  It really wasn’t unusual for him to get hurt on away missions… maybe…

“You’re pathetic, Daniel Jackson!” he berated himself.  “Just suck it up and get it over with.  Cassie is worth all this misery.  AND… you could’ve told her no.”

With that thought, he thudded his head against the door to his office.  Besides, this mission was a ‘meet and greet’, not one where shooting takes place all that often.  He tapped his laptop to life and proceeded to check his emails.  The first one he opened let him know this was not going to be fun.  There were pictures of different condoms, a _go directly to jail_ card, an article on the death of a child molester in jail, and last but not least; an ad for Viagra.  He began to think of just how he could get hurt on a ‘meet and greet’ mission after all.


	5. Attempted Deception

**Attempted Deception**

As soon as Sam and Daniel got to the SGC, he knew that things had not blown over.  Sam left for her office right away, leaving Daniel to fend for himself to get to his.

Every person he passed was whistling, humming or singing _Don’t Stand so Close to Me_.  Cramming his hands deep into his pockets, locking his jaw and keeping his eyes on the floor ahead of him, he made it to his office.  Once inside, he closed his door and breathed a sigh of relief.  That was until he saw a stack of things sitting on his desk.

Approaching it warily, his shoulders slumped.  There were several boxes of cherry flavored condoms.  A pair of fuzzy handcuffs, two _get out of jail free_ cards, some scented massage oil and a pamphlet entitled, “So It’s Your First Time?”

Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, he muttered to himself, “I can’t wait to get off planet!”

He opened his eyes and looked for a box to put all the crap in.  Just as he found one, there was a bang on his door.

“Enter at your own risk!” Daniel growled.

The door slammed opened and a very focused Jaffa strode in and up to the archeologist.  Stopping very close to Daniel, he towered over the young man menacingly.

With a deep, warning voice he spoke quietly, “DanielJackson, I have known you for some time now and consider you a close friend…” dropping his voice even lower, he leaned down into Daniel’s face.  “However, if anything happens to young Cassandra Fraiser that will dishonor her, I will take it as a personal insult and deal with you justly.”

Stepping back a pace, Teal’c continued to stare at the now very shaky Jackson.

“Is understanding achieved between us?”

With a gulp, Daniel nodded.  Then his brain kicked in.  Enough was enough!  Calling his honor into question was a step too far!

“What do you take me for, Teal’c?” he shot back hotly.  “Do you honestly think I would do anything to hurt Cassie?  Good god! what is with you people?”

Picking up the box of sex paraphernalia and launching it a crossed the room, he growled, “I am taking a good friend’s 17-year-old daughter to her prom as a favor and a kindness.  I have no intentions of hurting, degrading, deflowering, or anything else this twisted, sick base comes up with.  And you of all people,” he stepped towards the Jaffa, “should know that I would never, NEVER, dishonor any woman, no matter their age!”

With a small smile and a bow of his head, Teal’c accepted Daniel’s answer, “I expected nothing less, DanielJackson.  But as a father, I had to make sure your honor was well in place.  I am satisfied.”

“Oh, _you're_ satisfied, huh?” the incensed archeologist continued to rage, “well, I guess I should be bursting with gratefulness then.  The great Jaffa warrior has deemed little ol’ me honorable enough to be trusted with a young woman’s reputation.”

With mock happiness, Daniel gave Teal’c a deep bow.  Then, with a southern slave accent he knew Teal’c wouldn’t get the reference of, he said, “Oh, Master Teal’c, she’ll be home by 11:00 on the dot.  She’ll be intact and will have had an incredible night.”  Dropping the performance he snarled, “With who, I don’t know, but you can be DAMN sure it’s not gonna to be ME!”

With that, Daniel stormed from the room.

***

 

“Janet,” Daniel growled and he entered her office without knocking, and closed the door, “we have to talk.”

Raising her eyebrow, the doctor looked at the irritated linguist, “Oh?  About what?”

He paced in front of her desk like a caged tiger.  The tension was radiating off him in waves.  Hands shaking as if he was trying to make a point, but no words were being uttered.

“Daniel!” Janet’s no nonsense voice halted him, “do I need to get a tranquilizer?”

Taking a deep and calming breath, he looked at her, “I can’t take Cassie to the prom.”

Janet’s face did not change in the least little bit, which unnerved Daniel.  He figured she would be furious.

“May I ask why, you can’t take my daughter to her prom that is in _two_ days?”

Daniel didn’t miss the emphasis on when the prom was and knew it was her way of indicating, _this had better be life or death or it will be death… yours_.

“I, I… I just feel that maybe…” wiping a hand over his suddenly sweat soaked face, he tried to put the words together.  “I feel that I am too old for her and she needs to go with someone her own age.”

“Daniel…” Dr. Fraiser stood up and walked around her desk to him, “you’re taking my daughter to a high school prom… not marrying her.”

“I know, I know,” he sighed and sat down in a chair.  “I just can’t take any more of the hazing.  Thought I was done with crap like this.”

Janet laughed, “Oh, Daniel.”  She sat down next to him and took his hand in hers.  “Most of it is just in fun.  Everyone that has talked to me thinks it’s really sweet of you.  Half the women that have daughters said that they would let you take them to a dance.  You’re a great friend and an honorable man, Daniel.  And Cassie adores you.  This will all be over soon.”

She patted his hand as he nodded, still looking rather mutinous.

“Tell you what… if I hear any of the guys teasing you, I’ll give them the _extra special treatment_ next time they’re in here.  Okay?”

Daniel laughed at that.  “Yeah!  That’ll be good.”

She was the only one on the base that could make even the most hard-nosed Marine cringe.  As he got up to leave, Janet gave him a quick hug.  When he reached the door, she called after him, “By the way, Daniel, I’ll also try and curb all the rumors that have been going around.”

Looking at her confused, he asked, “Huh?”

She smiled at him and explained, “That all of the women here would trust you with our daughters because you’re gay.”

Groaning, Daniel banged his head onto the door jamb, hard.

“DANIEL!” Janet yelled at him, “you’re not going to get out of this, so stop it.”

Utterly defeated, the archeologist hung his head and sulked away.  As he walked the hallways back to his office his mind was racing.  He didn’t really want to hurt Cassie by wimping out.  He was just going to have to suck it up and be a…

“Hey, Doc J.,” a Marine that had been with the program for only a few months said to him.  Throwing an arm around Daniel’s shoulders, the jarhead slapped a magazine into his chest, “Thought you might need some help gettin’ it to stay up on Saturday.  This should work!”

Daniel looked down at the porno and stopped walking.  With a sigh, he wasn’t sure if he felt like crying or hitting something.  The new Marines were always the hardest ones convince that he wasn’t just some fucktard to be messed with.

“Unless maybe you’d rather have this one…”

Tossing another magazine on top of the first one and laughing uproariously, the soldier saluted him with one finger and left.  His hysterical cackle echoed behind him.

The second porno mag was of the gay variety with round glasses drawn on every bottom guy.

A plan was coming to mind.  He wouldn’t break Cassie’s heart, but if he couldn’t make it back in time, well… she knew what kind of work they did.  Cramming the magazines into a trash can, Daniel headed up to the control room to have a chat with Airman Harriman.  It was a good thing that his grandfather left him a good chuck of money.

***

 

Daniel was the first one in the ’gate room, prepped and ready to go.  He was _soooo_ ready to go.  Bouncing on the balls of his feet, he checked his watch for the fifth time.

When the blast doors opened, he looked around as his teammates strolled in.  Jack eyed him suspiciously.

“Daniel.”

“Jack.”

“You’re here early.”

“Departure time was 09:00, was it not?”

“Yes,” Jack replied, “And that means you get here at 09:10 usually.”

Daniel shrugged, “Just guess I’m running early today.”

Sam grinned at him while Teal’c merely gave him a nod.  Jack turned to General Hammond in the control room and twirled his finger in the air.

“Ready to go, General.  Dial it up, Walter.” O’Neill stated.

With an audible sigh of relief, Daniel watched as the wormhole established.  Not waiting for his C.O. to take the lead, he was practically running up the ramp.  With a look of amusement Jack and Sam chuckled and started after him.

***

It was evident shortly after arriving that this was _not_ going to be a typical ‘meet  & greet’.  The hostility of the natives notwithstanding, it was more the fact they were all escorted to a holding cell and stripped of their weapons.  No one told them why they were being incarcerated, only that they were to be put before a tribunal for their crimes against the ‘Gods’.

After a minor shouting match between O’Neill and one of the guards, they were left alone.

“This is just… peachy!” Jack fumed.  Turning to the others, he stared at them in turn.  “Ideas?”

Carter was first with her opinion, “I got nothin’, sir.”

“I too am at a loss for the reasons of this behavior,” Teal’c replied in his usual stoic manner.

“Really, sir,” Sam took up the thought, “when SG-2 and Daniel were here last week for the preliminary, everything was just fine.  They never even indicated a loyalty to any Goa’uld.  You don’t think that the NID found a way to screw this up, do you?”

“I can’t see that happening, Carter.  Ferretti said Daniel made friends with everyone that he talked to, and the NID don’t have access to a Stargate.”

Teal’c looked over to O’Neill and suggested, “Perhaps we are dealing with our android selves again.”

“Can’t be,” Carter debunked that thought immediately, “we made Harlan shut his ’gate down.”

“Doesn’t mean our restless doppelgangers didn’t reopen it,” O’Neill mentioned.

During this entire exchange, Jack started to notice the extreme lack of input from a particular linguist.  Then, as if a light bulb clicked above his head, he put two and two together.

“Daniel—” he said stepping over to him.

“Jack.”

“Any thoughts as to why we are in this particular situation?”

Without looking at him, Daniel shrugged and replied, “Ah… no, no I don’t.”

“Uh huh,” Jack began to pull lightly on Daniel’s jacket, giving him a stern look.

“Well, how’s about you talking to one of these ‘friends’ you made—” he paused, then yelled in the archeologist’s face. “AND GET US THE HELL OUTTA HERE!”

Daniel stepped back in shock at the tone his C.O. used on him.  He hadn’t heard Jack yell at him like that for quite some time.  Walking to the other end of the cell they occupied, he hung his head in apparent distress.

Sam gave O’Neill a scathing look.  “Why are you yelling at him?  He didn’t do anything.”

Jack held up one finger to her with a meaningful glance.  She went silent immediately, knowing that he must be on to something.  Turning to watch her teammate, she noticed him in the usual self-hug that he did when he was upset about something.

“Daniel?” she questioned him, “Do you know something about this?”

Turning around, but still not facing them, he shrugged.  With a very tight voice he mumbled, “Yeah.”

Jack blew a gasket.  “OH FOR CRYING OUTLOUD, DANIEL!” he bellowed.  “If you didn’t want to take Cassie to the prom, you shouldn’t have told her you would!”

Sam’s jaw dropped.  Teal’c even had a look of surprise on his face.

“You had us tossed in here so we couldn’t make it back in time for you to go?!” Carter asked, with venom dripping from each word.  “That’s low, Daniel.  I can’t believe you would let some idle, high school hazing drive you to this.  Do you want to crush Cassie’s heart?  She has talked of nothing else but the fact that you were _man enough_ to go with her.  Janet told her all about the teasing you’ve had to endure and now she thinks you’re the most saint-like person in all the universe.”

Stepping up to him, Carter did something that she never thought she would do to Daniel.  With an utter look of disgust, she hauled off and slapped him.

Taken aback, Daniel’s eyes wide with shock, he stumbled backward a few paces.

“Saw that comin’” Jack muttered to Teal’c.

“Indeed.”

Waiting for a moment or two, to let what just happened sink in, Jack went over to his stunned friend and patted him on the shoulder.

“Can we get out of here now and proceed with our mission?”

Nodding morosely, Daniel called to one of the guards and told them the gig was up.  After all of their weapons were returned, they were led from the prison.  Hanging back, Jackson kept his head down and his mouth shut for the entire time they were there.  Jack masterfully negotiated a treaty with their hosts and all was right with the world.

Except for Sam.  She wouldn’t even look at him.  He knew he crossed the line with this attempt at getting out of the deal with Cassie.  Now he was going to have to not only make amends with a seventeen-year-old, but he would most likely have a lot of groveling to do with not only Sam but Janet as well.  For Daniel knew, that Sam would tell her what he did.


	6. Punked

**Punked**

As SG-1 traipsed down the ramp back home, not only was General Hammond there to greet them, but Dr. Fraiser as well.

Daniel, who was still hanging back, caught a look from the diminutive doctor that chilled his blood.  Had Sam contacted her from the planet?  If that was the case, he was in deep, deep shit.

“Welcome back SG-1.  I trust everything went well with the treaty… eventually?” Hammond asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“Just peachy, General, if I do say so myself.” O’Neill grinned smugly.

“Yes… I understand that you had to take over the negotiations,” Hammond remarked looking at the resident linguist with mock sternness.

 “Minor hiccup, sir.  Nothing SG-1 couldn’t handle.”

“I see,” the general said, “report to your post-mission exams.  The briefing will be in one hour.”

As the team exited the gate room, Dr. Fraiser fell into step with Daniel.  He immediately tensed.  She didn’t say anything, just made sure he was aware of her presence.  When they got to the infirmary, Janet caught Daniel’s arm and led him to an isolation room.  When he looked back to his teammates, they all had big grins plastered on their faces.  He knew he was in for it when he noticed that even Teal’c was grinning.

Once the door was closed and Janet turned on him, Daniel held up his hands in supplication.

“Before you ream me out, Janet, I’m sorry.  I’m a coward and Cassie doesn’t deserve a coward taking her to her dance.  So… as of now, I’m digging my heels in and to hell with everyone that thinks this is fodder for their perverted amusement.”

As Daniel was speaking, Janet’s face went from barely restrained fury to pleasantly surprised joy.

“Well,” she said walking over to him, “I guess I won’t be needing this then.”  Janet pulled from behind her back a very long needle. 

Daniel’s eyes went wide and he gulped, “Ah… No, you don’t need… um, that,” he stammered, backing away from her.

Janet smiled at him, “In that case, when will you be picking Cassie up?”

He returned her smile and replied, “At four o’clock.  Our dinner reservations are for five and the prom begins at six-thirty.  I should think we will be home around eleven.  Is that going to be okay with you?”

“That sounds fantastic, Daniel.  I’ll make sure she’s ready.” Janet walked over and hugged him. “I really appreciate your doing this.”

She reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  Then she whispered, “Its Colonel O’Neill that’s giving you all the paraphernalia and instigating the teasing.”

Backing away, she flashed Daniel a wicked grin.  He matched her smile with one of his own.  When he turned to leave, a thought came to him.

“Ah, Janet,” Daniel looked at her with an evil glint in his eye. “would you go along with a bit of childish revenge?”

Janet Fraiser was one with hidden depths.  One of those depths was the extreme joy of payback.  With a smile that actually unnerved him, she nodded and said, “What did you have in mind?”

****

General Hammond was getting impatient.  Looking at ¾ of SG-1, he really wanted to get this briefing over with.  However, Dr. Jackson had not shown up and was now twenty minutes late.

The door behind him opened and Janet walked in with a very concerned look on her face.  She leaned down and whispered in the general’s ear.  Hammond’s face went red.  His eyes narrowed and he glared at the CMO.

“You did what?” he burst out loudly.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Janet spoke with shame in her voice, backing away slightly. “I was just so… angry at him.”

When Janet said that, Jack, Sam, and Teal’c all straightened up in concern.

“What happened?” Jack almost shouted.

Just then, Daniel came into the briefing room.  Jaws dropped.  The archeologist was on crutches, his head bandaged and one eye covered with gauze.  His hair was matted and he looked as if he was about to collapse.  Slowly, he hobbled over and gingerly sank into a chair, not looking at anyone.

General Hammond watched the broken young man, shaking his head.  “Well, Dr. Jackson,” he commented, “I guess you’ve succeeded in getting out of taking Cassandra to the prom after all.”

Daniel’s head dropped lower and he murmured, “I’m sorry.  I really wasn’t thinking when I contacted my friends on P34-282 before we left.  They were very confused but willing to help me out.”  Glancing up at Jack for a moment, he added, “That’s why I was on time yesterday.”

Sam piped up, “What is Cassie supposed to do now?  And what happened to you?”

Janet raised her hand.  “That would be my fault.  I got a little… out of control…”

Jack snorted, “A little?!  He hasn’t looked that bad since he came home from Honduras.  Man… I feel sorry for Cassie.”

Janet turned to O’Neill and fixed him with a harsh stare.  “Well maybe, if a certain Colonel didn’t instigate all the teasing— Daniel wouldn’t have resorted to pulling such a stupid stunt. Then I wouldn’t have gotten so pissed that I beat the crap out of him.”

Jack opened his mouth to refute the accusation but didn’t get the chance.

“Is that true, Colonel?” General Hammond’s voice was not to be trifled with. “Were you the one that began the hazing of Dr. Jackson?”

“Um,” Jack looked down at the table, drumming his fingers nervously, “I … guess I may have… started it.”

The general stood slowly and leaned on the table, “It seems to me then, Colonel O’Neill, that since Miss Fraiser is now without a date, _you_ should step up and fill in for Dr. Jackson.  As a friend, I’m sure you are more than willing to do this.”

Jack’s face was a picture of absolute horror.  He couldn’t even come up with a smartass remark.

Sam caught Janet’s eye and realized what was going on.  She quickly stifled a laugh and turned to her C.O.  “I think that would be very honorable of you, sir.  I know that the tux we got for Daniel won’t fit you, but you can wear your dress blues.  You always look so handsome in them.  I’m sure Cassie will be only a little disappointed.”  Sam turned to the man beside her and squeezed his hand, “Poor Daniel.”

 “POOR DANIEL?!”  Jack yelled jumping up, “I’m sorry, Janet, but there is no way I can take Cassie to her prom.  I’m… I’m way too old—”

“Oh, but it’s fine that _I_ take her, huh?” Daniel snarled.

Jack looked at him and said, “Well… yeah.  You’re still… youngish.  And you’re a civilian… guys around here know they’d get re-assed to the arctic circle if they tried hazing me.”

“Honestly, Jack, you are pathetic!”

General Hammond looked Jack straight in the eye, “And since I’m _ordering_ you to escort Miss. Fraiser to her dance, Colonel O’Neill, I fully expect you to show her a wonderful time.”

“I’m sure Colonel O'Neill will be a perfect gentleman, sir,” Sam said with a barely restrained laugh, “And the French restaurant that Daniel was going to take her too does accept AARP cards.”

The shock on his face was enough to make Daniel totally lose it.  He started laughing so hard, he thought he would crack a rib.  Sam and Janet joined in and when George Hammond began to laugh, Jack realized what was going on.

“I’ve just been _punked_ , haven’t I?” He asked sinking into his chair.

Teal’c turned to him and inclined his head, “Indeed.”


	7. Dinner with Daniel

**Dinner with Daniel**

The day of the prom dawned bright and beautiful.  Cassie was up and fretting since before the sun even cleared the horizon.  She was already on her third shower when Janet made her stop.

“Do you want to be all shriveled up and wrinkly for tonight?”

“MMMMMOOOOOMMMMM!” Cassie whined.

Janet smiled at her, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear.  “Relax, Cass.  You have quite a while before you have to get ready.”

“I know, I know.  I just can’t wait.  I want to look great for Daniel.” She said blushing.

Janet smiled, “You will, sweetie.  And he’s looking forward to going also.  Did you know that he never went to his prom?”

Cassandra’s eyes grew wide.  “No!  Why not?”

“I think he figured he was too young at the time.  He graduated high school at 15, Cass.”

“15?!  You’re kidding!” She shrieked.  “I knew he was smart… but damn!”

Janet burst out laughing, “Cassandra!”

Smiling innocently, she turned and headed back to her room, “Sorry, Mom.” She purred.

Janet tried to hide her smirk as she watched her daughter prance off.  She wondered how Sam was doing with Daniel today.  She had decided to go to his place to help him get ready.  Even though he was in a better mood after they all _punked_ Jack, he was still showing some signs of reluctance at following through with all this.

****

“Oh for crying out loud, Daniel!” Sam hollered into his bathroom.  He had been in there for almost an hour and a half.  “How long does it take to shave?”

A muffled voice shot back through the locked door at her, “I’m doing my legs!  Leave me alone!”

Sam was silent for a long moment, then lost it in a fit of giggles.  Behind the bathroom door, Daniel smiled smugly.  He had rendered her speechless.  Point for him.

“I’m going to fix some coffee when it’s done you had better be out of there, Daniel Jackson,” Sam called out to him.

“Yes, mom.”

As Daniel walked into the kitchen, Sam turned and handed him his coffee.

“Just the way you like it,” she smiled.

Grinning back he looked down at the cup and lost himself.  _How did I get myself into this?_

Sensing his inner turmoil, Sam gave him a playful shove, “Paging Dr. Jackson.”

Looking up startled, he gave a little laugh, “Sorry, Sam.  I just… I, I guess I’m just worried about tonight.”

“You?  Worried?  NNNNOOOOO!” her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Scowling at her, he went back to his bedroom to look at the tux again.  God, this was going to be a _long_ night!

****

It was 3:30 pm.  Cassie walked from the dining room to the kitchen.  Then she walked from the kitchen to the living room.  She pulled back the curtain, looked up and down the street, then carefully put the curtain back in place.

_Where was he?  God, I’m pathetic!  She wondered to herself.  Why did I ask Daniel?_

This was going to be so hard.  She had such a crush on Daniel since SG-1 rescued her from PX8-987 almost seven years ago.  Now she was going to her senior prom with the universe’s cutest geek?

She walked into the powder room. “Oh, my God… Mom!”

Janet winced.  “Yes, dear?”

“My hair is all wrong… call Daniel.  Tell him to turn around…” Cassie scowled, “I could… I could just… _explode!_ ”  A stricken look flashed a crossed her face, “Oops, sorry, mom… I didn’t mean that!”

Her mother couldn’t help but laugh.  “Well thank goodness we got that little problem solved, huh?”

Smiling, Janet looked at Cassie’s reflection in the mirror, “Oh, honey, you look beautiful.  He will think so too.  Stop worrying.”  With a gentle grin, Janet patted the young woman’s cheek, “Daniel will be here soon, and I know you two will have a great time.”

The door bell rang.  Cassie let out a squeak.

“Cassie, relax…” Janet encouraged her.

“I can’t do this!!!”

Placing her hands on her daughter’s face, she looked into her eyes, “Yes, you can.  Pull yourself together, I’ll answer the door.  I have a few last minute reminders to give your date anyway.”

Outside, Daniel rang the bell again as he unconsciously rubbed the top of his right shoe against the back of his left pant leg.  Pulling at his collar to loosen the _ridiculous_ tie he knew wasn’t tied correctly, he realized that his hands were all sweaty.

_This is nuts!_ he mused, _How old am I?  I’m acting like **I’m** the teenager._

Janet deliberately opened the door as slowly as she could, and then beamed at Daniel.

“Man oh man!  I wish this were my prom!  You look incredible, Daniel,” Janet gushed as she led him into the front room.

She noticed his bow tie wasn’t quite right and had him sit down.

“Let me get this for you,” she said smiling at him.  “Thank you again for doing this.  I know it’s been hell for you.”

With a tiny smile, Daniel mumbled, “No problem, Janet,” then his grin widened, “Besides… I got Jack back.  I mailed all the porno magazines, handcuffs, condoms and Viagra boxes to his office secretary with a love note from him.  She’s been crushing on him since she transferred in.”

She slapped his arm affectionately, “Bad boy!”  Then noticed the corsage in his hand.  Daniel realized what she was looking at and showed it to her.

“Do you think she will like it?  It’s a lavender carnation set in a bed of lilac.  Sam helped me pick it out.”

Janet smiled, “It’s lovely.  How did you know she liked lilacs?”

With a sheepish grin, he answered, “Jack… of all people.”

Just then, the small, friendly woman’s whole demeanor changed.  “Daniel,” she began, “there is something I do need to speak with you about.”

“Oh?” he was instantly on guard.

“I know you don’t watch much T.V., so I will explain this as succinctly as possible.”

Daniel gulped, “Oooookay…”

“There is a sci-fi show that I love called _Firefly_.  My favorite character on that show is Shepherd Book.  He spoke most eloquently when he told his friend, who had unknowingly been married to a young girl, that… to quote Shepherd Book, _If you take sexual advantage of her, you’re going to burn in a very special level of hell._ _A level they reserve for child molesters… and people who talk at the theater.”_

Daniel fixed Dr. Fraiser with a mock hurt look, “Janet, we’ve been over this.”“I know!  Just a reminder,” Janet said with a smirk.  She called over her shoulder, “Cassie, the prince is here to escort you to the ball!”

Cassie nervously stepped into the living room.  Suddenly, Daniel really understood why he was there.  He had been given the privilege to see many beautiful things in the universe, but Cassandra Fraiser was a vision to contend with.  Now he really wished he _was_ eighteen again.  Shaking his head slightly, he mentally chided himself to behave when he noticed that a part of him _did_ think he was eighteen again.  _Down boy,_ his mind yelled in Jack O’Neill’s voice.

“Well…” Cassie asked nervously beginning to feel self-doubt.  She smoothed her hands down the sides of the gown.

Suddenly Daniel was aware that he was just standing there with his mouth hanging open. 

“Wow!” was all that would come from the linguist of thirty odd languages.  “Cassie… you look _so_ beautiful.  Thh… thank you for asking me to accompany you to your prom.  I honestly mean that!”

Cassie melted.  This _was_ going to be an incredible night.  Now she was sure of it.

****

The limo ride to the restaurant was painfully quiet.  Daniel was never comfortable with small talk, so his mind wandered from his latest translation project to the fact his tie was cutting off the oxygen to his brain.  Then his cell phone beeped at him.  He dug it out of his pocket to see the text message icon lit.  It was from Janet.  Rolling his eyes, he flipped it open and read, _“The special hell…”_ He had to chuckle.

Cassie played with the automatic windows and locks, readjusted the air vents and opened the moon roof.  Finally tired of the silence she asked if she could turn on the radio.  Daniel nodded.  She hunted up and down the dial until the sweet sound of Weezer’s “Island in the Sun” came on.

“Doot, doot,” she quietly sang.

“Did you say something?” Daniel asked.

“Nope… just singing.  You like Weezer?”

“No, not really… asthma is not much fun, especially as a kid!” Daniel joked.

Rolling her eyes, she slid closer to him and wrapped her arm around his.  “It’s a band _called_ Weezer. You are such a dork.” 

Ducking his head down, he pouted at her humorously.

“An extraordinarily handsome, hunky, dork.  And tonight, you’re _my_ dork!” she smiled sweetly.  She loved it when Daniel blushed.  And it was so easy to do.  Janet had taught her very well how to _get_ him to blush.  Maybe she would write a book, _How to Make a Gullible, Geeky Archeologist Blush, Without Really Trying_.  It would be an instant best seller.  Cassie laughed to herself.

“What?” Daniel asked when he noticed her smiling at him.

“Oh… nothing,” she answered.  Not wanting him to pursue that thought any longer, she asked, “So where are we going to eat, Daniel?”

“Um,” he shifted slightly in his seat.  Cassie was sitting very close and he _really_ **really** noticed just how grown up she looked this evening.  “We… um… I, I made reservations at _Le Jardin Enchanté_.”

Cassie’s eyes were as big as saucers.  “WOW!  A real French restaurant?  How romantic!”  She immediately noticed the red of Daniel’s face.  “I mean, if I had gone with Tyler, it would have been McDonald’s probably.”

That got him to chuckle, “Well, I did tell you I was going to spoil you tonight.”

Now it was her turn to go red.

The limo pulled up and the driver got out to open the door for them.  He held his hand out to help Cassie. 

As Daniel slid out of the car, he asked the driver, “Would you like anything?”

The stunned look on the man’s face told Daniel that this was not an ordinary thing to do.  Still, it was a _Daniel_ thing to do.  Cassie beamed at him proudly.  The driver smiled and shook his head no.

As they entered the restaurant, Cassie couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.  Quiet, elegant candle-lit tables with white linen coverings.  The ceiling was painted to represent a clear, star-filled night sky.  As they were led to their table, she noticed each one had an exquisite Orchid floating in a small bowl of water.  Off in the corner was a string quartet playing softly.  It was dim, but not so much you couldn’t read the menu, which was entirely in French.  Cassie looked at it, trying to make heads or tails of the words.  Only one year of French class just didn’t cut it.  She was glad that Daniel would be able to read it to her.

The smells wafting from the kitchen were making her mouth actually water.  Cassie wondered if her mom had ever been to a place like this.  When she looked back at her date, Daniel was smiling at her.  The candle light danced in his eyes, making the blue sparkle like polished gems.  Cassie’s heart skipped a beat.  How in the world could this man be single?  Were all the women on the planet _blind_?

_God, I wish I was a few years older!_ she thought to herself.

“Bonsoir,” the waiter came up and greeted them with a friendly tone. “J'espère que vous êtes bien la nuit belle. Je m'appelle Jean-Michael et moi serons votre rompre ce soir. Pourrais-je vous recevoir une boisson pour commencer?”

Daniel grinned at Cassie knowing that she didn’t understand a word he said.  “Oui, s'il vous plaît. Je voudrais un thé à la glace et la dame voudrait…”

Turning back to the young lady he asked, “What would you like to drink, Cass?”

“Oh, um.  A Coke?” she answered all flustered.

“You sure?  You can have anything you want… within legal parameters.”

Cocking an eyebrow at him she shyly asked, “A strawberry daiquiri?”

Nodding, he graced her with one of his patented mega-watt smiles.  Addressing the waiter, Daniel told him her order.

“Très bon, Monsieur. Et nos specials sont aujourd'hui; Sautéed Grenobloise Unique avec les Cabrioles et le Beurre jaune citron et Magret Grillé du Canard servait avec une Sauce de Coriandre et de Gingembre. Je reviendrai bientôt avec vos boissons.”  That said, the waiter hurried off with their order.

“Would you like an hors d’oeuvre?” Daniel asked his overwhelmed date.

“Sure.”

Smiling at her, he suggested, “If you like a creamy with a hint of nutty flavor cheese, I would recommend the Warm Brie.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.  I’m up for trying anything you suggest.”  Cassie flushed at her answer, just imagining all the ways it could be taken.

“Ooookay.”  He gave her a sidelong glance.  “The waiter told me the specials were Sautéed Sole, ah… fish, with capers and lemon butter, and Grilled Magret de Canard, which is… um, basically… duck served with a ginger and coriander sauce.”

Cassie really wanted to be livin’ large tonight, so she decided to go with the… fish.

When Jean-Michael returned with their drinks, Daniel placed the order.

“La jeune dame voudrait commencer avec le Brie Chaud et je voudrais avoir les moules Fumées dans Calvados.”

“Très bon choix, Monsieur.” The waiter replied, “Et pour votre entrée?”

“Grenobloise Unique Sautéed, pour elle et Magret Grillé du Canard pour moi, s'il vous plaît.”

“Voudriez-vous avoir la soupe ou une salade avant votre repas?”

Looking over to Cassie, Daniel asked the question.  She answered, “The soup,” and he ordered, “La Bisque de Homard pour nous deux, merci.”

Nodding his acceptance of the order, he took their menus and hurried off.

Cassie was quiet for a long time, just watching Daniel and sipping her daiquiri.  She noticed that he seemed to be loosening up a little.

“Daniel, can I ask you a question?”

Slightly worried at the implications of that, he answered, “Um… sure… I guess.”

“Are you just showing off for me?”

He was floored.  He hadn’t actually considered this as _showing off_ , but now that he thought about it, he was a bit presumptuous.  Maybe ordering in French was a bit over the top since he knew very well that all the servers spoke English.

“Um… well, Sam is actually… _ach-um_ … the one that picked the restaurant.”  He muttered, head down, feeling like an over-stuffed, supercilious, snob.

“It’s really sweet, Daniel.  Don’t be embarrassed.” She reached over and placed her hand on top of his, lightly, “I love to listen to you when you speak different languages.”  She knew he was no longer loose and she felt sorry.

At the moment Cassie’s hand covered his, Janet’s voice rang in his head, _The special hell, Daniel._

Their hors d’oeuvres came, he quickly removed his hand from under hers, and they ate quietly for a while.

“So, ah… Cass…” Daniel broke the uncomfortable silence, “I know that you decided to skip a year and travel before you go to college but have you thought about where you want to attend?”

Dabbing at her mouth with the linen napkin, she considered his question.  “Oh, I don’t quite know yet.  I have been accepted to the University of Colorado and to UCLA.  But I am waiting for a reply from… well— somewhere Mom doesn’t know I applied.”

With a hastily covered cough, Daniel looked up at her.  “Cassie?” He said in his best Jack O’Neill imitation, “where did you apply?”

In a small voice, she answered, “Oxford.”

He was stunned!  Oxford.  Wow!  That was big league.  “Cassie, that’s… that’s great! Why aren’t you telling your mom?  She’d be…”

“Not wanting me to go so far away.  She nearly _plotzed_ when I was accepted to UCLA.”

“Oh, Cass, don’t let yourself get tied down because of Janet’s fears.  You have to take your _own_ life in control, be who you want to be!”

Cassandra gave him a sad sort of smile, “I wish it were that easy, Daniel.  I had to beg her for over a year just to get her to let me go to Europe for six months.  I mean, God… I’m not going by myself, I’m with a group of ten other people.”

Their soup arrived as they continued to talk about parent’s expectations vs. kid’s expectations.  Daniel was very supportive of Cassie going to Oxford.  He thought the idea was fantastic.

“Would you like me to talk to her, Cass?”  Daniel asked hesitantly.

The young lady’s eyes lit up twice as bright as the candle on the table.  “Daniel, would you?  That would be the weight that could tip the scales in my favor.”

“Hey!  I’m not that heavy.  Jeeze!” He pouted at her comically.

“You dork!  You know what I mean.  If you talk to her, then I know she would let me go.  If I get accepted, that is.”

“I’m sure you will.  You’re a very smart young lady, you know.”

His compliment made her blush a deep shade of red.  She wondered if she asked nicely if he would wait for her to get a little older so _she_ could snag him.  What’s twenty years difference give or take?

Their dinner arrived and the talk turned to this and that kind of stuff.  Nothing too heavy.  Mostly about the different fun missions that Daniel had been on.  They spoke in code, as all of his trips were classified.  But Cassie knew the routine, having lived the life of an undercover alien for seven years.

When the waiter came back after the meal dishes were cleared, he asked if they would like to see the dessert tray.  Cassie shyly nodded; she was not going to get out of this excellent place without trying what the French were famous for.

“Elle voudrait avoir le Profiteroles et je voudrais la Mousse de Chocolat, s'il vous plaît.”

“Très bon, monsieur,” Jean-Michael commented and hurried away.

When the silence stretched on too long again, Daniel asked, “What are you thinking of as a course of study at Oxford?”

“Literature.  With an emphasis on Celtic myths.”

“Whoa… that’s deep.  I loved lit classes.  Then again, I love to read.  That and history, as you well know.”

“Yeah, you were the one that helped me catch up on learning to read English.  You actually turned me on the whole idea of books being the original…” she leaned in close and whispered, “… stargates.  I mean, with a book you can go anywhere in any galaxy… Listen to me, preaching to the choir.”  She giggled.

Daniel smiled at her and bowed his head slightly.  He had never thought of himself as one to inspire other people.  He was always the _whacked out geek with unbelievable theories_.

Now, he had a groupie that plans on spending her time learning things that he turned her onto.  That was cool.

The check came and Daniel paid, trying not to let the whimper out when he saw the total.  This was a very special evening for a very special lady, after all.  And besides, when did he ever have time to spend the money he was making working for the SGC?  It’s not like he had a life.

When they left the restaurant, the limo was right there waiting for them.  Now was going to be the hard part of the night.  Cassie looped her arm around Daniel’s as they walked over to the luxury car.  She could tell he was getting nervous again.

“Daniel,” She said quietly, “You know, I’ve had a great evening so far.  If you want to, we could… um, well… skip the prom if you really don’t want to go.”

At first, his mind went right into the gutter.  Shaking the disturbing thoughts from the primeval part of his male mind, he looked back to his beautiful date.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Cassie.  I know how important this is for you.  I’m honored to escort you.”

Beaming at him, she reached up and kissed him shyly on the cheek.  “Thank you, Daniel.”

Opening the door for his clients, the driver gave Daniel a look of amusement.  “Off to the High School, sir?”

Daniel nodded, turning several shades of red.  He got the joke.


	8. Prom Night 2003

**Prom Night 2003**

An enormous sign outside of Coronado High School blared _Welcome Senior Cougars to Prom Night 2003_.  The limo pulled up outside the gymnasium doors behind, to Daniel’s relief, a queue of other limos.  He glanced to his right and saw the glow coming off of Cassie.  He couldn’t help but smile at her happiness. As the car approached the entrance and stopped, Daniel’s heart went into overdrive.

_God, I can’t believe how nervous I am.  This is nuts!_  He thought to himself.

The driver came around and opened the door, again helping Cassie out.  Her friends must have been waiting for her as they all descended at once.  Daniel slowly slid out of the car trying hard not to stand out.  Cassie turned to him and immediately wrapped her arm around his, her face the picture of pride.  One hand stuffed in his pants pocket and his head slightly down, he let her lead the way.  As they walked passed her gaggle of friends he heard a few of the comments.

“OH. MY. GOD! He is gorgeous!” One of the girls whispered… loudly.

“Where did she find him?  Do you think he has a brother… a younger one?”  Another giggled.

“Well, she said it was a surprise… And I’m definitely surprised.” Rose, Cassie’s best friend said.

They made their way into the foyer and Cassie presented the tickets to one of the teachers at the ticket table.  She looked up at her and then looked over at Daniel, giving him a gaze that sent his stress level through the roof.

“Miss Fraiser,” She eyed Cassie sternly, “I assume this is your date?”

“Yes, Ms. Foster.  He is a very good friend of the family and was nice enough to agree to escort me so that I wouldn’t have to come alone.”  She replied with an air of adultness that made Daniel stand up a bit straighter.  He didn’t want to embarrass her at all.

Still scowling at him the teacher nodded at Cassie to go on into the gym.  Daniel gave the woman a shy smile and followed his date.

As they entered the gymnasium, Daniel’s jaw dropped at the care taken to make the place as grand as it could possibly get.  The whole area was decked out like an old ballroom.  They even had a big swing band playing instead of a deejay. 

Pulling Cassie aside for a moment, he asked, “What’s the theme of this prom?”

“USO Revisited.  It’s like the 1940’s.  Do you like it?”  She asked in a worried voice.

“Um… Yeah.  It’s just…  wow!  Your classmates really pulled out all the stops.  This is fantastic.  I never imaged the prom being like this.”  Daniel said with a slightly awe-filled look.  Holding his arm out to her, he proudly walked with Cassie to a table near the dance floor.  As he pulled a chair out for her, Cassie’s friends came over with their dates and asked to sit with them.  Daniel was happy that the table filled with all of her friends.  He figured that it would be easier to handle dealing with awkward questions.  Ones about where they knew each other and what he did for a living, etc.  Rose sat down on Daniel’s other side and watched him out of the corner of her eye.  He could feel a lot of eyes on him right then.

_God, Jackson…_ he thought, _… stuck on yourself much?  Oh brother, now I’m thinking like a teenager.  Great!_

Turning to Cassie, he gave her a small smile and asked, “Would you like me to get you something to drink?”

“No, thank you, Daniel.  We can just stay here for a little while.  You know, just talk and stuff.  Okay?”

“Sure.  This is your night, Cass.  I want you to let me know when you wish to do something.  Alright?”

“I will.” She answered then turned to her friends, “Okay everyone, I would like to introduce Dr. Daniel Jackson, my date.” Cassie announced to the table at large.  She then turned and rattled off everyone’s name to the archeologist.

Leaning close, Cassie whispered, “There will be a quiz later, Daniel.” She smiled at him.

He grinned at her.  There was an awkward silence for some time, then Rose turned to Daniel and asked him, “So where did you and Cassie go for dinner, Mr. Jackson.”

Cassie jumped in to answer her friend so that Daniel wouldn’t have too, “ _DR._ Jackson took me to _Le Jardin Enchanté._ It was so wonderful, Rose.  Very romant—” She stopped suddenly when she realized how it would sound if she had told them it was romantic.  Shifting gears quickly, she continued, “It was very dreamy.”

“Wow, a real French restaurant.  Way cool.” Rose replied with a jealous look.  “Andy and I went to Michelito’s.  It was okay… Oh… I mean, it was really nice.  Thank you, Andy.”  She back peddled a bit.

Andy just nodded and continued to watch Daniel.  He then cleared his throat and addressed the older man, “Ah… Dr. Jackson, what do you do?  Are you a medical doctor?”

Daniel shook his head and turning to Andy said, “Um… no.  I’m an archeologist and a linguist.  Right now I work for the U.S. Air Force… as ah… consultant.”

“Cool.  I’m going to the Air Force Academy next year.  Maybe when I graduate, I can work up at the mountain.  I know they do some real advanced stuff up there.  Is that where you work?”

Daniel wasn’t sure if he should answer truthfully or not.  “Yeah, I do.  I help translate stuff and any… artifacts that are found around the world are brought there for me to study.”

Yeah, that would work.  He knew his lying skills were not the best.  Daniel turned back to Cassie and gave her a shy grin, pleading for a bailout.  She caught on right away.

“I think it’s time to dance, Daniel.” She informed him, standing up and holding out her hand to him.

That wasn’t what he had in mind, but went with it.  Following her out onto the dance floor, he swallowed hard when she turned and embraced him.  It was, of course, a slow song and Cassie actually wrapped her arms around his neck, moving in _very_ close.  She was only a head shorter than he was and his chin rested on top of her head quite comfortably.  He knew he was in trouble.  This was not going to end well if he didn’t keep his highly educated mind from going primal.

The song was a long one from the forties and he remembered his mom holding him as a little boy and dancing around the tent in Egypt to a scratchy record playing.  Daniel closed his eyes and sighed at the thought of his mom.  He hadn’t entertained those kinds of memories for a very long time.  That’s when it hit him.  Cassie’s hair smelled like what he remembered his mom’s was like.  Smiling, he unintentionally pulled her closer to him, not wanting to lose the images of that once happy time of his life.  When the song ended, he pulled away slightly embarrassed.  The look on Cassie’s face told him she was confused by his warm embrace.

Smiling shyly he told her, “This dance reminded me of something that happened when I was little.  An image of my mom dancing with me in her arms in Egypt to that song.  I hadn’t thought of that in… well, forever.  It was nice.  A beautiful memory for me.  Thank you.”

She grinned at him, very pleased that she had given him nice thoughts.  Then her smile faded, turning to a glare of anger.  Her eyes fell on the approaching trio of boys, led by none other than Tyler.  Grabbing Daniel’s arm and forcibly leading him away, she glanced over her shoulder to see the boys speed up.

“Oh, great!” she mumbled.

Daniel looked at her confused.  When he tracked her line of vision, he spotted the boys gaining on them.  He vaguely recognized one of them as Cassie’s one-time boyfriend.  This was not good.  Still, he wasn’t going to let some punk ruin her evening.

“Cassie,” he asked in a low tone, “Would you like to talk to him?  I don’t mind if you need to.”

“No, Daniel.  I’ve said everything I intend to.  He blew it one too many times with me.” She replied.

Just then, Daniel felt a heavy hand on his shoulder spinning him around to face the boy.  Boy was kind of an understatement as he was as tall as Jack and definitely a football player, as well as his friends.

“Who the hell are you?” Tyler asked with a growl.  Not waiting for an answer, the light seemed to go on inside the kid’s head, “Oh hold on a minute… you’re that geek that works with Cass’ mom up at the mountain, aren’t you?”

Daniel shrugged, not sure how to handle this without embarrassing his date.  “Daniel Jackson.” He said quietly and held out his hand in offering.

“God damn, Cassie.  Sink pretty low huh?  You gotta find a geek that’s as old as my dad to go to the prom?  Shit, I just figured you were coming with the girls or somethin’ lame like that.”  Tyler turned and laughed with his gang of friends.  When he turned back, he saw that _the geek_ was not happy.

“I think you need to take your friends, turn around and walk away.  You have no right to speak to a lady like that.”

“Shut up, Dork.  I wasn’t talking to you.  Why don’t you go bang someone your own age?” He snarled at Daniel.  “Oh wait, maybe you can’t get a date… ‘cause you’re such a loser.”

Taking a deep breath and trying to remember that this was a dumb kid, Daniel took off his glasses and began to clean them on the sleeve of his jacket.  “Look, Tyler, right?” Glancing at Cassie, she gave him an angry nod. “Tyler, this is not the time nor the place for a confrontation.  Let's just go our separate ways and maybe later, Cassie will beat the crap out of you.”

“Oh right!  Like that can happen.  I wouldn’t even break a sweat taking _you_ down, you homo.”

“ENOUGH!  Tyler, go blow.” Cassie yelled, then turned to Daniel, “Come on Daniel, this prom thing isn’t nearly as cool as the dinner was anyway.”

As they turned to go, Tyler sneered, “You’re a bitch, Cassandra Fraiser!”

Cassie spun around without even thinking and punched him as hard as she could in the face.

Unfortunately, Daniel saw that coming and got in between her and Tyler just as the blow connected with him instead.  And Cassie could punch!  Daniel’s head flew back nailing Tyler in the nose, knocking him flat on his ass in front of the whole prom.

After a stunned silence, the crowd erupted in applause.  And the teachers descended upon the small group of trouble makers.

“You three out of here, NOW!” Ms. Foster told them harshly.  “Miss. Fraiser, I expected better from you, young lady.  As for you,” the teacher turned on Daniel, “Really.  An adult behaving like a… like a…”

“Teenager?” Daniel suggested sheepishly.

“Exactly.  Out.  All of you.” In a huff, Ms. Foster led them all from the prom floor and made sure they all left.

****

The ride back to the Fraiser house was in a very uncomfortable silence.  Cassie was in tears for hitting Daniel.  For his part, he was upset at not just taking control of the situation and escorting her away from that… jock.  With an ice pack he had made up from the little fridge in the limo on his eye and his head thrown back against the car seat, he watched her with his good eye.

“I’m sorry, Cass.  I should have stepped in sooner and stopped it from getting that bad.  It’s my fault.” He told her as he reached out for her hand.  “I wish this could have ended better for you.”

Drying her tears, she looked at him with such love and adoration, “Daniel, I’m proud of you.  Mom always said you were the peacemaker of the SGC and now I know why.  You have nothing to be sorry for.  I shouldn’t have let that arrogant imbecile get the best of me.  I’m sorry that I hit you instead of him.”

“Oh, you hit him alright.  Just not the way you planned on it.” He told her ruefully rubbing the back of his head.

Sliding over next to the older man, she said in her most seductive voice, “Want me to kiss it better?”

Daniel gulped.  _The special hell, Daniel!_  He said, “Ahem… ah… no, no I don’t think so.  Thanks.”

He caught the playful look in her eye and knew she was teasing him.  Giving her a mock glare, he pushed her lightheartedly, which she returned.

When they pulled up to the house, Daniel was truly hoping that all he had to do was drop her off with Janet and then he could go home and hide for the next two days.  Instead, he saw that Jack’s, Sam’s, Teal’c’s _and_ General Hammond’s cars were all there.  Rolling his eyes, he looked over to Cassie.

“Mind if I just drop you off?”

She noticed all the cars as well and thought about cutting him some slack when the door to the limo was opened by none other than Jack O’Neill.

“Home kinda early, arent’cha kids?” He mused.

Daniel was very glad it was dark and that his C.O. couldn’t see his eye. “Hey, Jack.  I was tired and Cassie wanted to come home.  You mind walking her in?  The limo can take me back to my place.”

Jack didn’t miss the plea in his friend’s voice and knew there had to be a story here.  “No, no, you have to come inside.  We’re all waiting for you.  All the sordid details are needed first hand.”

Daniel groaned as Cassie pushed him out the door.  O’Neill went around and gave the driver a hefty tip and told him he could knock off early.  The man smiled at him and murmured his thanks, then drove away.

Cassie pulled Daniel aside and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you, Daniel.  I really had a good time.  Even in spite of Tyler and his band of marry Neanderthals.”

Daniel laughed. “I had a great time too, Cass.  Better late then never, huh?  Bet I’m the only one that can boast that I was almost forty before I went to a senior prom.”

Neither of them noticed Jack still lurking outside watching them with a mischievous grin on his face.  Cassie then stood on tiptoe and gave Daniel a chaste kiss on the lips.  “Come on,” she whispered, “let’s go face the music.”

With a smirk, Daniel followed her inside with Jack close on their heals.  As the three of them entered, all talk stopped.  Janet was on her feet and over to them faster than one could blink.

“Cassie… What happened!?” She hugged her daughter tightly and then ushered her out of the room.  When she cast an amused look back at Daniel, that’s when he noticed that her makeup had smeared down her face and her hair was all mussed.  Not to mention, Cassie’s right-hand knuckles were slightly swollen.  Boy could that girl pack a punch.

With his head down and hands stuffed deeply into his pockets, Daniel shuffled into the living room where the assembly waited.  To him, however, it seemed more like the Inquisition.  Sam came over to him and gave him a hug.

“I’m proud of you Dan…” She started to say when she saw his eye.  “What happened?!”

Jack came into the room and handed his blushing friend a beer.

“That seems to be the question of the night,” O’Neill smirked, “So, Danny.  Who’d you fight, and did you win?  I hope so since you were at a high school.  If not, you, Teal’c and I have a date with some training in store.”

Grumbling unhappily, Daniel sat down and pulled his tie off. “It wasn’t a fight.  I… I, I just got hit… that’s all.”

Janet came storming back in with two new ice packs in her hand.  She was on the warpath and everyone present cringed.  Giving Daniel one of the packs, she turned and headed back upstairs to Cassie’s room without a word.

“Ooooohhh boy.” Sam mused, “I think maybe we should all leave before Janet gets a hold of Daniel or SG-1 is going to be a three-person team.”

“I didn’t do anything!” He protested loudly.

“Your eye says different, Danny Boy.” Jack snorted.  He was having too much fun with this.

Taking a long pull on his beer, the archeologist leaned back and rested his head against the chair cushion.  _At least the dinner was excellent tonight_ , he thought.

Cassie and Janet came back in together and sat down.  The younger of the two had changed into a pair of sweats and a long t-shirt.  She was cleaned up and looking much more comfortable, albeit none to happy.

“Okay, will someone please tell us what happened?” Jack bellowed, “Teal’c is on the edge of his seat here, don’t keep him in suspense!”

“I believe it is you that is in suspense, O’Neill,” The Jaffa’s smooth and unruffled voice remarked.

“Don’t change the subject.”

Cassie took center stage and began to tell them what went on.  “First of all, Daniel was a perfect gentleman.  I couldn’t be any happier with our date tonight.”

She turned and beamed at him, causing him to go red yet again.  Then she continued, “Our dinner was fantastic and the prom was boring.  We did dance and before you ask, Mom… Sam, he’s an excellent dancer!”

The entire room was now cast in a red glow as the chuckles escaped from everyone.

“OH for cryin’ out loud, get ON with it!” Jack moaned.

Daniel glanced up and sighed.  “Cassie’s boyfriend…”

“EX-boyfriend…” she interrupted.

“Ah… yeah… ex-boyfriend came over and tried to start something with her.”

“Oh, Cassie… are you okay?  What did he do?” Sam asked in concern.

“He was just mouthing off, as usual, and I got mad.  Daniel tried to be a peacemaker and that’s when… um, I kinda… accidentally hit Daniel.”

This time it was Cassie that was beet red. 

Jack sprayed his beer across the room, hitting Teal’c, “You did that?  Damn, Cassie, you need to be on an SG team if you can punch like that!”

“Jack!” Janet scolded him, “Let her continue.”

“Sorry…” He said, still amused, “Danny got beat up by an eighteen-year-old girl… oh, this is _SO_ never going to get old!”

A pillow flew through the air and nailed Jack in the head.  When he looked to see who threw it he quieted down right away at the stern look from Hammond.

“Go on, Cassandra,” George said softly.

“Anyway, Tyler said something to me that really ticked me off and when I turned to hit him, Daniel got in the way and I decked him instead.” With an evil grin she elaborated, “but when Daniel’s head flew back… it got Ty right in the nose!  I think it was broken.”

“Oh, this is fantastic!  Our little Cassie takes out two guys with one punch!  This has got to be the best prom story ever!  Oh, to have been a fly on the wall there!”

Several pillows now descended onto the smart-ass colonel.

“Are you okay, Cassie?” The gentle tone of Teal’c came after the pillow assault.

“Yes, T.  I'm all right.  Daniel and Ty were the ones that got roughed up.” She grinned at them.  “Well, long story short, we all got kicked out of the dance.  That’s why we’re home early.”

A round of laughter filled the room.  Even Daniel couldn’t help but smirk.  It had been pretty funny now that he thought about it.  After a few more drinks were consumed and more stories about other dates that went wrong were told, everyone decided to call it an evening.  Jack took a slightly tipsy Daniel home and tucked him into bed.  Janet made sure that he was okay before they had left.  Cassie wearily went to her room ready to fall asleep, but pulled her diary out to enter her thoughts.

_Dear Diary,_

_Welp, prom has come and gone.  Daniel was so wonderful.  I really wish I was older.  Yet, the whole reason for my asking him to go was because I thought Tyler was_ _immature for getting us thrown out of the movies and here I got Daniel and I thrown out of the prom.  Guess it just goes to show you the old adage is true; ‘what goes around, comes around’.  Still, I wouldn’t have changed this evening for anything in the universe!_

_-Cassie-_

**~The End~**

**Author's Note:**

> This story was created in 2009 as a result from what had happened to a friend of mine. He was my age (30-ish), married and had a young girl (17-ish) ask him if he would take her to her Winter Formal. When he told us this tale, my mind went to work, culminating in A Night To Remember. I hope that you will enjoy reading this story as much as I did writing it. On a side note, the guy that this happened too… he was the one that got me hooked on Stargate SG-1 in the first place!
> 
> I also wish to apologize for the French in Chapter 6. I got all of it off of a web translator, so if it’s wrong, please drop me a line and let me know so I can get it fixed.


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